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I totally understand your skepticism. I remember when I started having menopause troubles and would consult site after site: only to be told I should go vegan, eat lots of whole grains, and get more sleep. Cripes! Sleep is what I was trying to get! After a long long ordeal where conventional medical wisdom did no good at all, I got used to doing whacky things instead; and getting results :lol: |
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So the Armour helped the cholesterol? I was prescribed thyroid for quite a few years back in the 80s & 90s. Moved & new doc said my thyroid was low, but not low enough to need help. I've had it checked several times over the years with the same result. But now I just got the results of the cholesterol test (that I reluctantly agreed to - told the doctor that no matter the result I wouldn't take a statin), & my total cholesterol & calculated LDL are both high (& higher than they were 2 years ago), but everything else is good. I wonder if she would agree to a trial of Armour to see if it might help. |
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I don't know your age, but probably for similar reasons Medicare will not allow Armour to be included in any Part D drug formulary anywhere in the US, even though it's an FDA-regulated drug which has been around for a LONG time (decades? 100 years?) -far longer than synthroid. Sorry to hijack the thread. I also got off on a tangent when I went to google to search on "orthomolecular medicine" as that term kept being used in the book and I'd never heard it before. It led me to a scathing Wikipedia article which essentially denounced any sort of "orthomolecular" therapy as faddish, quackery, new age, useless, dangerous - proponents as ignorant, uneducated, credulous - doctors like Hoffer as complete quacks .... sheesh |
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I don't mind! I learned something that might be helpful to me. :D |
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Just that I've also tried a lot of unconventional things that have done wonders for people I trust that have done nothing for me. So I love reading threads like this but find myself thinking "hmmm, which category would this fall into? All or nothing?) :lol: |
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Yes, it's like me reading endless articles and blogs about adrenal fatigue; but while that was what was wrong with me (in part) their suggestions did not make a dent. It wasn't until I got into Dr. Kruse's theories that I got some relief. And talk about "out there..." That's Jack Kruse. But I know you have tried lots of things that worked for lots of us even on this board; but it didn't work that way for you. I know how discouraging that is. :agree: |
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WHAT???? Wikipedia said Hoffer is a Quack??? Now I'm REALLY interested in his methods!!! hahaha! I always perk up when "conventional wisdom" labels someone a quack! I'm at 500 mg of niacin twice a day for about 3 days now - I worked my way up to it. I only get a teeny flush now, but I like it - especially on cold days. I do think it is helping my sweet cravings and with my attitude as well - I feel more relaxed and cheerful :) ....but how could this be??? It's all just quackery you know! :lol: |
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What's funny is that the same people who pompously lecture me on how wrong Wikipedia can be will swallow that article whole and not even burp :) I think we're all somewhat inoculated against things like that because we were told for years that low carb would kill us and here we are, healthier (and often, slimmer) than our critics. Medicine should be a societally supported art, not a greedy profit-driven business. Ironically, we are using science more than the purported scientists: we now know how many of them take money to slant research, just how enormous and influential the PR efforts are from food processors and pharmaceutical companies, and how corrupt many of our safeguarding institutions have become. We are at the end of one medical era and the beginning of another. And that's always a tricky time :lol: |
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Agreed, and as we transition, many are now understanding how important sound nutrition and whole foods are to health. The Pharmaceutical age has distorted many things and the greatest distortion is substituting human engineered drugs for sound nutritional approaches in the quest to correct and maintain health. They've gone after hiding symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. Good observation. |
nothing to do with niacin, but i have seen a couple of recent news stories of families who were using alternative medicine who have been jailed when their children have died. mainstream medicine fighting back? we don't see doctors or parents being jailed when prescription medicine kills children. scary times indeed.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...sons-death.html |
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I cannot equate that story with what some of us are trying here. The woman in the story rejected any medical intervention, and there was an easy and workable solution she did not seek. But your other point is a good one: thousands are killed from prescription drug interactions, and nothing happens then. |
For instance, thee's a book out about it, Our Daily Meds:
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http://www.alternet.org/story/14731...panies_get_rich |
it seems like the medical establishment has been making examples out of a couple of extreme cases--there was another recent story in alberta where the family owned a supplement company. you're right that these extreme examples don't relate here. acute illnesses vs chronic disease.
often we find 'side benefits' from using supplements/diet/lifestyle changes. when i had my first arthritis flareup, my doctor was so much less than helpful when i started asking her questions about how to prevent the arthritis inflammation in the first place. she had me taking so much ibuprofen my stomach started bleeding. luckily i knew about hoffer, and i had first hand experience about the efficacy of biomedical treatments and was able to do my own research into the why's of the inflammation/pain. i immediately made dietary changes to eliminate inflammatory foods and added in anti inflammatory supplements. niacin worked so much better than ibuprofen and even in small doses, took the pain right away. ibuprofen didn't even touch the pain. i just don't have much respect for the way that modern medicine treats chronic disease. in my experience, it makes things worse. |
Just ran across a paper in the Orthomolecular Library:
Niacinamide’s Potent role in Alleviating Anxiety with its Benzodiazepine-like Properties: A Case Report (PDF link) In lay terms: niacin (niacinamide) can work like a psychiatric drug. I would say, even better, since I was put on Gabapentin for shingles pain, and that worked well. And for two weeks or so, it helped my anxiety. And then stopped working. My doctor gave me a tapering off schedule that would have lasted 18 months. (I shrank that to 4 months by using chelated magnesium.) Drugs like Valium, Prozac, and others have some serious side effects for many people. Quote:
Benzodiazepines are barbiturates (names end in -pam) used for insomnia, anxiety, and depression. Quote:
I'm doing fine on 3G a day: and I have noticed a lessening of my anxiety! Mine was never at a level where I was seeking a prescription: I felt it had a real-world cause because I was so sick for years and it was ruining my life. But I am glad to see it go :) Quote:
This particularly got my interest because getting off psychiatric drugs can be a terrible ordeal, freezing people between the side effects of a drug which may or may not work, and the hellish symptoms of tapering off. When I was leaving gabapentin, my mood could plummet into the worst despair I have ever felt. But a quarter of a magnesium pill; and I was cheerful again. I know some people find these drugs to be life-changing in a good way. But for everyone else, there is a good alternative to explore. |
I believe niacin is ideal for anxiety and stress reduction in those situations where one is prone to anxiety. As I've increased my daily dose, I have felt very relaxed and focused more towards the analytical during an unanticipated stressful occurrence. I am not prone to anxiety; yet, I can see how supplemental niacin is really helpful under these circumstances.
I've also made a decision on the correct daily dose for me. In a recent post, I observed that I was getting muscle fatigue and burning earlier than normal in my workouts. After doing some research, I read that larger doses of niacin can increase lactic acid. Bingo, that's what I was experiencing when I was up to 700-900mg per day. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just one workout, so after several more with similar reactions, I realized a dose adjustment was in order. I'm now down to 200mg per day, far greater than the RDA, but enough to get benefits. I'll try it at this level to see if I can find a sweet spot where I'm at the right dose without causing any lactic acid response. I'm firmly in the niacin supplement camp, as I'm certain that I wasn't getting enough through diet alone, and that the RDA should be far greater than the amount published today. Again, and as mentioned in the book, this is a very individualized type of supplement that will vary from person to person. It's worth while to experiment with different doses to find what's right. |
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